I was actually on my summer holiday for this trip so I went to Benidorm so that I could travel through to Madrid for the game !! I didn't look into it very carefully but Benidorm was quite far away but the only place I would consider going. So we booked flights only and got accommodation over there, which worked out quite well as we didn't have to pay for the nights we would be in Madrid.
The holiday was nice and it was exciting to also have the trip to Madrid to look forward to. We booked tickets for a bus to take us to Madrid, we didn't have anywhere to stay once we got there but we had arranged to meet some of the boys at their hotel and were hoping to crash with them. we had met a nice couple in Benidorm so they were going to look after our suitcases for us so we didn't have to lug
them around Madrid as well.
So on the bus we went, we found out that it would've been much easier to go by train so that was our first argument.......... When we eventually go to Madrid (6 hour bus journey), we didn't have a clue where we where, and it was getting quite late, we were getting really ratty at each other then I heard the Hearts song so we followed the noise and ended up at a pub thing (don't know if it was a restaurant or pub -
it was quite posh but we were made welcome) and there were quite a few Hearts fans there, all very drunk. We joined in the revelry and then quite luckily found out that the hotel we were meeting the boys at was about 10 yards away, so I ran round and they hadn't arrived yet but at least I knew where it was. So back to this posh place.
One by one the Hearts fans started getting TOO drunk and were politely asked to leave, we were a couple and they let us stay along with two other boys so we were at the bar with them talking and trying to out do each other with who was the best Jambo (i.e. been to most games etc.).
Then I got bored with them so I went back to check and the boys were there - absolutely guttered !! And they'd been in that state since about 9 am (this was 10 am). We had a few beers at their hotel, then realised how expensive it was so we moved on. We had quite a fair sized group as a few other people we knew had turned up.
We went into a Karaoke bar but it was full of chinese people (in the middle of Madrid ??) and was very quiet, also we had to spend a fiver to stay and the drinks were awfie dear (again) so we had another wander. then at last we heard a magnificent sound - the Hearts song in full blast. It was from a cafe/pub place so we all went in, got a drink and joined in the singing, so every Hearts fan that passed came in and joined us all and we met loads of people and had an excellent
laugh. The bar man was quite happy as well, letting us sing and no wonder, we were all too drunk to convert pesetas properly so he was charging us whatever he felt like.
Then it all went pear shaped. A spanish woman (quite ugly, no VERY ugly) came round trying to sell flowers, and I think a few of the boys bought them to be nice (Hearts fans abroad, reputation to keep up). But then she began really pestering people to buy them, and one guy we knew was getting pestered really badly as he had his girlfriend with him. He was telling to get lost and it got quite heated and she grabbed him so he pushed her away, next thing she's shouting and screaming and pulling at her top, making it look like it had been ripped away from her.
The bar man told us all to finish up and go saying that she was trying to say the guy had tried to rape her !! Although he knew it wasn't true, but we all left anyway, and then the police came and the woman was pointing to the guy so basically we all ran away (I wasn't running too fast, as obviously, it wasn't me who allegedly tried it on).
Anyway, we found another pub full of jambos and had a right laugh there singing and dancing and stuff (I went into the guys toilets by mistake and got caught ... how embarrassing). The night had sort of been ruined though by the Spanish woman, we were
a bit quieter than normal. Then when we inevitably got chucked out of there,
5 of us dived in a taxi and tried to find somewhere else but there was no where open. I had a massive argument with my boyfriend and ended up running away from him in a fit of anger, then i didn't realise where I was, couldn't remember the name of the hotel the boys where staying in ... oh dear. But again, I heard the Hearts song so I followed it and lo and behold it was my two pals, Grant and Dode, so we went a wee walk trying to find somewhere to get something to eat. Everything was shut, Madrid seemed to close very early but eventually we found a sort of transport
cafe type place. we went in there and they had pictures of food on the wall so we ordered what we thought was 2 lasagnes and three plates of chips, but what we ended up with was two cold tuna pastie things and three plates of cheese sticks !! What a laugh. Then eventually we found the hotel by telling the taxi driver it was the 'Royal things or something', I think it was called the Majestic Hotel but we got there. There was no way we could sneak into the rooms so at four in the morning me and the boyfriend (who I wasn't talking to) had to book into a hotel at the cost of £35 for a few hours sleep. Lovely.
The next day started better, McDonalds for breakfast then we sat at tables outside a hotel. It was actually the equivalent of the Sheraton by the prices we were charged !! We had all the flags and scarves tied around the sun umbrellas and it was an excellent laugh. Every Jambo that came passed stopped and had a drink with us, and all the boys were ogling the women and wondering how much it would cost for a
prostitute, the usual stuff. There was a sex shop right opposite us and a few boys went it but eventually the guy stopped any one of our crowd going in as he realise they were just going for a perv.
Then some boys I knew came past and they were going to this pub owned by A Hearts fan, so a few of us went along. What a sight we were on the underground, mexican hats and Hearts flags, the lot. The woman shoppers seemed quite amused by all our singing and dancing, not scared at all. We eventually found this pub, a Motherwell
fan was with us, I think he owned a pub in Gibraltar but knew his way around
Madrid so he came up with a fellow Jambo. Strange, some of my photos have a guy in a Motherwell strip, very bizarre.
Anyway, the pub was excellent, it had pictures of all gory things under a glass top on the bar and stuff like that, and they played Hearts videos and we sang and drank. I remember they were selling these massive tubs of beer (2 pints I think it was) so I took one of them with me on the tube. We were escorted to the game once we got off the tube, and there seemed to be thousands of Hearts fans at the game, most of them
wearing these daft mexican hats.
Hearts got beat 3-0, and to be honest, as is the norm in these European
games, I can't remember much about the game except that we played mince
and Henry Smith was terrible and I didn't expect ot ever see him in a Hearts
jersey again after that performance. During the game on of our guys ran
into the Madrid end, grabbed some boy back to our end and swapped tops
and made me take a photo of them, the police were standing waiting with
their guns to take the boy back to the Madrid end so I was a wee bitty
quick taking that photo I can tell you.
After the game (I think we got held back a while) we went on a bus with some boys we'd met the night before, and ended up at their hotel in the middle of nowhere (dunno why we done that), then we decided it was all too much hassle and got on the tube to the bus station and got an overnight bus back to Benidorm.
Although it wasn't my favourite trip (mainly cos Madrid shut so early and the incident with the woman) it was still a bloody good laugh.
